Event
The Dress: Mayann Francis and Gary Markle in Conversation
Affiliated with the exhibition:
The Dress: Mayann Francis and the Call to Serve
CURATED BY MAYANN FRANCIS WITH PAIGE CONNELL, ANGELA GLANZMANN, AND GARY MARKLE
Upon the advice of the Prime Minister, on 20 June, 2006, Governor General Michaëlle Jean appointed Mayann Francis as Nova Scotia’s 31st Lieutenant Governor, a posting that she held until 12 April, 2012. States Francis, “Becoming the Queen’s representative to the Province in 2006 was the highlight of my very public service. The enormity of the responsibility being placed on my shoulders did not escape me. On September 7, 2006, I pledged to always serve to the best of my abilities and to uphold the respect, which the office deserves.”
“As had often been the case in my career, I was the first Black woman (historically, the second woman) and first Black person to perform the role. That presented the challenge of being judged not only as an individual but also as proxy for all African Nova Scotian women and men. As such, what were the contextual concerns behind my selection of garments? How did the politics of gender, class and race influence choice of textile, colour and style? Why was it important to get ‘The Dress’ right?”
Please join us as Mayann Francis and Gary Markle, Assistant Professor in the Fashion Department at NSCAD University, explore the complexity of these issues.
